2016 was a fine year for female characters in video games. Between stealth sequel Dishonored 2, parkour prequel Mirror’s Edge Catalyst and hack ‘n’ slash hit Severed, there were plenty of opportunities to play as female characters throughout the year.

But 2017 will be even better, with an astonishing amount of games through the year set to feature women and girls in lead roles. We’ve managed to get the list down to 20 games with female protagonists that we’re looking forward to and you can check out the choices after the jump.

It’s no secret that the video games industry could do more to be inclusive to all of the different kinds of people who play games. But progress has been made and we are now seeing more female characters, characters of colour and characters that identify as LGBTQ+ than ever before.

2016 is a real example of that, with quite a few games featuring diverse leads. So, to highlight the ones that we’re most excited to play, we’ve put together this list! Read on and let us know what other games you’re hyped for in the comments.

Next year, Devolver Digital (the company behind Hotline Miami and Ronin) will publish EITR. The game follows a Norse warrior called The Shield Maiden after the god Loki spills a “wretched” substance onto the loom of destiny, unleashing darkness on the world tree of Yggdrasil and changing The Shield Maiden’s fate for good.

It’s up to The Shield Maiden to take out the ghosts, skeletons and other spooky beasties that plague the world tree as she explores Yggdrasil’s nine Norse worlds looking for answers. When EITR was showcased at E3 2015 back in June, many agreed that its gameplay reminded them of Dark Souls and now, EITR‘s developer Eneme Entertainment has confirmed that the game is “heavily inspired” by FromSoftware’s portfolio.

Between Thor of Marvel superheroes fame and the obvious influences of Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls Online, Norse mythology is at peak popularity right now. We just can’t get enough of it, so it was unsurprising to see EITR, another Norse-inspired game, announced during Sony’s E3 2015 press conference.

The new action RPG is being published by Devolver Digital (who also published arcade bloodfest Hotline Miami) and it stars a nameless female protagonist who we only know as ‘The Shield Maiden’. The game will be released on PC and PS4 at some point in 2016 and you can watch a brand new EITR gameplay trailer after the break.